After everyone had dispersed, Lynae stood up from her chair.
After exchanging glances with Megumi and Rover for a moment, she walked out of the classroom with them.
“Thank you for speaking up for me.”
As she said this, Megumi felt that Lynae…
…didn’t seem like the Lynae he knew at all.
She wasn’t bright and cheerful in the slightest; instead, she seemed somewhat gloomy.
“Why didn’t you tell the truth?”
At this moment, Rover asked the very question Megumi had in mind.
In the end, Lynae hadn’t shown the teachers the canister-like device she held that could attract the Hyvatia, nor had she told them who the mysterious student she had been confronting was.
“…”
But Lynae didn’t answer Rover’s question; instead, she quickened her pace and walked ahead.
Megumi and Rover had to jog slightly to keep up with her.
“What was that device you were holding when the Hyvatia went out of control?” Rover pressed.
“Whew, you’re really direct…”
Faced with Rover’s relentless questioning, Lynae stopped in her tracks, resigned.
“I thought you would let me off the hook like they did,” Lynae said with a bitter smile.
She was likely referring to the teachers in the classroom earlier who had chosen not to press her further.
“That’s unlikely,” Rover replied.
Watching from the side, Megumi noticed that Rover’s gaze was very sharp right now.
It seemed that Rover had been like this ever since Lynae appeared before that Hyvatia and her identity became suspicious.
Lynae didn’t shrink back; instead, she approached Rover and Megumi, peering closely into their eyes.
Compared to Rover’s fearlessness, Megumi felt a sense of wonder.
The people of this world had very beautiful eyes.
It wasn’t just that their eye colors were vibrant; more importantly, it was what lay within.
Whether it was Rover’s golden pupils or Lynae’s graffiti-like, multicolored eyes, Megumi felt he could see into their hearts through them.
“Good, you’re still yourselves…”
After saying something Megumi couldn’t quite grasp, Lynae turned around.
“Let’s go somewhere else to talk. I can’t quite catch my breath here, and…”
As she reached the end of her sentence, Lynae fell into a rare silence.
“Sorry, Megumi, for dragging you into this,” Lynae said before leading Megumi and Rover forward.
Lynae’s words caused Rover to look at Megumi as well.
Unlike Lynae and Rover, who might have secondary identities, in their eyes, Megumi truly was just an ordinary person with somewhat strange abilities.
By “ordinary person,” it referred to his mindset.
In response, Megumi simply shrugged.
“I didn’t really have any goals to begin with, and you two are my only friends at the academy for now. I’ll just treat this as gaining some life experience.”
At his words, Lynae clenched her fists, her eyes downcast.
She seemed to feel even more apologetic because of his statement.
Because Megumi truly considered her a friend, yet she hadn’t been completely open with him and Rover.
In truth, Megumi felt a bit of emotion as he said those words.
At least, that was how he saw himself.
However, when he saw Lynae in danger earlier and ordered Nue to take him to the battlefield…
…thoughts had surfaced in his mind that never would have before.
He was a little afraid.
Afraid that the friend he had just made would die because he failed to help.
But…
Even now, Megumi still felt he would put his own life first.
When it came down to a life-or-death moment, he would surely hide in the shadows again, just as he had when facing the Hyvatia.
Having settled on this thought, Megumi felt much better.
“Let’s go. You’re the student I brought into the academy; I’ll protect you from any danger hereafter.”
As if she had read Megumi’s mind, Rover placed a hand on his shoulder.
Megumi felt a bit embarrassed by this.
After all, he felt his previous thoughts were quite shameful, and yet Rover had somehow sensed them.
Glancing back at the interaction between Rover and Megumi, Lynae couldn’t help but smile.
Her mood brightened slightly.
Afterward, Lynae led Rover and Megumi away from the classroom and toward the Library.
“Your true identity isn’t just that of a student, is it?” Rover asked Lynae on the way.
“Though I wish every moment that I were just a simple student,” Lynae said with a bitter smile.
Her words served as an indirect answer to Rover’s question.